A border marker between the United States and Canada is shown just outside of Emerson, Man., on Jan. 20, 2022.Photo by JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press

Human smuggling trial sees texts between men accused in migrants’ border blizzard death

Witness was caught crossing into U.S. on the same day a family of four froze to death in blowing snow and wind chills below -30

by · National Post

The trial of two men accused of human smuggling is getting a look at messages the prosecution says prove the pair conspired to sneak people across the Canada-United States border.

Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel have pleaded not guilty to charges of organizing several illegal crossings of Indian nationals from Manitoba to Minnesota in late 2021 and early 2022.

Accused smugglers put 'profit over people’s lives' with Indian family that died at Canada-U.S. border: prosecutorsFERGUS FALLS, Minn. — Two men put financial profit over human life when they attempted to smuggle a couple from India and their two young children across the U.S.-Canada border in heavy snow and bone-chilling winds, leading to the family freezing to death, prosecutors said Monday.Michael Goldberg, 19 Nov 2024Eight Africa migrants arrested, driver charged with human smuggling near Manitoba-U.S. borderGRETNA, Man. — Mounties have charged a man with human smuggling and arrested eight African migrants near the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba.09 Sep 2024